Tandan and I pulled away from each other to look at the man who interrupted us. He was middle-aged with graying hair and traces of a shadow on his rounded face. Although he stood a few feet away, I could tell he wasn't much taller than me. His outfit seemed oddly retro: gray slacks and a blue button-down sweater over a white shirt and tie. His eyes were flanked with wrinkles as he chuckled.
"Who are you?" Tandan asked.
I assumed he was a pack member. For us, that wouldn't be good. Not when there was a lycan beast in the basement of the house behind us.
"The name's Peter Segal," he replied. "You wouldn't happen to be Alpha Daniel and...his mate?"
Confused, I glanced up at Tandan. He seemed just as lost. This Peter guy must not have been in the pack if he didn't know his own Alpha or Alpha Female.
"Uh, no," I told him. "We're not. Danny is not really available right now, though..."
"He isn't, is he?" The man tapped on his chin in exaggerated thought. "That might be because of the king of all wolfkind he's hiding in his basement."
My mouth fell open. Peter flashed a smile and attempted to walk around us.
"Hold up!" Tandan snapped, grabbing the man's arm.
Peter's head cocked to the side to glare at Tandan and then his eyes began to glow with a silver color. He growled at my mate in a deep, throaty voice. Tandan shoved me behind him and peeled his lips back in a challenging snarl.
"You don't want to go there with me, son," Peter said arrogantly. "Now, I have business with Daniel. Step aside."
This time he succeeded in strutting passed and Tandan didn't attempt to grab him again. Gasping, I ran after the stranger.
"Wait!" I raced in front of him to block his path, in spite of Tandan calling my name. "Who are you? How do you know about Basileus?"
"Because in a former life, Basileus was my Alpha. I have been summoned here by Daniel to deal with this situation. I don't know who you are, girl, but if you step in my path again, I will tear out your heart."
He wasn't polite in pushing me aside to climb the stairs of the porch and let himself inside the house. Just as I turned to follow him, Tandan caught my hand and held me back.
"Don't," he said.
I turned to face him with a perplexed look. "Did you hear what he said?"
"Yes. And I do think he would follow through on his threat."
"My family is in there! What if he hurts them?"
Sighing, he took my face into his hands again. "He just wants to see Basileus. Besides, that is not my concern. My concern is keeping you safe."
"And mine is to protect Matt! Who is still inside that beast's body!" I cried. "What if he tries to hurt Basileus? How can he say that about Basileus being his Alpha?"
"I don't know, baby. I don't know. Please, don't put yourself in harm's way. I will have to kill someone if they try to hurt you and we are far outnumbered here."
I took his hands from my face and held them between us, saying, "I know. Can we at least go see what's happening?"
Though he clearly didn't want to, he nodded. I whirled around and started for the stairs. He kept a tight grip on my hand to keep me from getting ahead of myself.
The kitchen was buzzing with conversation as we entered the house. We followed the noise until we found Peter in the kitchen with everyone else. He and Danny were in the middle of a discussion.
"I would like to see him," Peter said.
"You will see him after you tell me your plan," Danny insisted. "It's hard enough to believe you might actually be his former Beta, somehow, but credible oracles tell me you are. That's where my trust ends unless you explain your intentions."
Peter seemed to be getting mad; his hands balled into fists at his side. My brother stood on high alert off to the side where he could easily attack the stranger if he needed to. On the other hand, my parents and Kiara stood behind Danny with cowering but curious faces. No one seemed to notice our arrival.
"First, I am going to set him free," Peter said bitterly. "A cage is no place for a king of his power and strength. It's a miracle you got him here in the first place. Secondly, I'm going to take him back to our homeland. Descendants of his pack are trickled throughout the nation and I intend to bring them all back together. Then I will let him rule again. It has been a cold, cruel world since he has been gone."
"Two problems with that," my brother said, stepping up to make sure this stranger would look at him. In this moment, Braden looked so much older than he was. He looked mature. He sounded mature. "One, you would have a hell of a time getting Basileus onto a plane or a boat to get him back to France. Secondly, he isn't going anywhere without my sister." Then Braden pointed a big fat finger at me.
Everyone turned to see me and Tandan and standing in the doorway. Peter included. His eyes cut into me.
"You?" he asked. "Who are you?"
Gulping, I felt my face redden. "Rylee. We think...I think that the human body Basileus took belongs to my best friend. We don't know for sure, but it seems pretty likely."
"So you think he's got a little soft spot for you?"
"He followed her here," Braden spoke with shocking calmness. "Over a hundred miles he chased after her until he tore through some of our pack to find her."
"That seems a little dramatic," Peter scoffed. "I know Basileus. He would not delay his reign for a werewolf girl."
Braden and Danny started to protest simultaneously but he silenced them with a violent hand gesture. I decided to reassert myself. Either this guy was a phony, an arrogant asshole, or Basileus wasn't who we were actually dealing with here.
"Maybe," I suggested, "that's because this isn't just Basileus. He's in my friend's body. Matt cared about me. Maybe some of that residual care is influencing Basileus."
My idea sparked some interest in Peter's thoughts but he was still adamant that we were all fools.
"That's a thought, but I wouldn't put much faith behind it."
"You wouldn't, would you?" said a woman from behind us.
Although I instantly recognized the voice, I was still stunned to turn around and see Angelica standing in the foyer. She smiled sweetly at me and my mate before joining us in the doorway.
"You've always been a cynic, Peter," she scolded him. "Just because you were once the King's Beta doesn't mean you understand how reincarnation works."
I looked up at Tandan. If his widened eyes meant anything, we were on the same level of confusion.
"About time you got here," Peter muttered with an eye roll. "They won't let me see him."
Tandan cleared his throat. "Forgive me if I'm missing something here...but, Angie, what are you doing here?"
Her mouth reclaimed its kind smile as she touched us both by the shoulder. "You know I'm an oracle, dear. Alpha Daniel called me. He needed to find someone who knew anything about Basileus."
"You are the oracle they've been talking about?" I questioned, struck by awe.
It made a little more sense as to why she and Tandan were so close. I'd thought she had just been a maternal figure for him and she accidentally glimpsed his wolf at some point. Rather, she was an oracle and must have known before even meeting him that he was a wolf.
"I suppose so! Unless there is another." Angelica chuckled. "I would like to think it mere coincidence that we were all brought here by our King, but I don't think so. We were destined to know each other."
My jaw dropped open. "So you didn't know that I would be connected to him?"
"No. But I knew you were special. More special than just being the mate to someone who has always been like a son to me," she said with an affectionate look at Tandan. "Now! How about we see our King?"